Talk Is Cheap | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 3 October 1988 | |||
Recorded | August 1987 – May 1988 | |||
Studio | Air Studios, Montserrat; Le Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 47:01 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer |
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Keith Richards chronology | ||||
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Talk Is Cheap is the debut solo album by English musician Keith Richards, the guitarist of the Rolling Stones, released in 1988. Recorded and released during a long-standing falling out with Mick Jagger, Talk Is Cheap received positive reviews upon its release.
Relations between Jagger and Richards had grown tense into the third decade of the Rolling Stones as they began to disagree on the musical direction of the band; "You Don't Move Me" would be written about their feud. The image-conscious Jagger was keen to follow the trends and keep the Rolling Stones current, while Richards wanted to preserve their reputation and roots. When Jagger was more interested in pursuing his solo career instead of touring for Dirty Work in 1986, Richards began a solo project for the first time.
Richards teamed up with Steve Jordan, who had worked on Dirty Work and eventually became the Rolling Stones' touring drummer following Charlie Watts' death in 2021, and the pair wrote several new songs. One of which, "Almost Hear You Sigh", would be placed on the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels in 1989 (with lyric modifications by Jagger). Recording began in August 1987 at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec, and continued sporadically until the following May with visits to Montserrat and Bermuda. In order to assert his independence further, Richards signed with Virgin Records, while the Rolling Stones were under contract to Sony Music (they followed him to Virgin in 1993).
The core of the band, called the X-Pensive Winos, consisted of Waddy Wachtel, Ivan Neville, Charley Drayton and Jordan, with many guest artists taking part in the recording, including Sarah Dash, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, the Memphis Horns and Patti Scialfa, and the only musician from the Stones to appear, guitarist Mick Taylor. Outtakes later[ when? ] surfaced[ where? ] that included an eight-minute version of "Struggle" and two passes at "Almost Hear You Sigh", as well as two unreleased jams, the 14-minute "She Put the Mark on Me" and the 12-minute "Breakin'".
A live version of "Make No Mistake" performed at the Hollywood Palladium was later featured in an episode of The Sopranos and on the 2001 soundtrack album The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Original Series .
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Blender | [2] |
Chicago Tribune | [3] |
Los Angeles Times | [4] |
NME | 3/10 [5] |
Q | [6] |
Record Collector | [7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
Uncut | 7/10 [9] |
The Village Voice | B+ [10] |
Released in October 1988, Talk Is Cheap was met with critical acclaim, with some reviews half-jokingly calling it the best Rolling Stones album in years. It peaked at No. 37 [11] in the UK and No. 24 in the US, [12] where it went gold. [13]
All tracks written by Keith Richards and Steve Jordan.
Side one
Side two
The 2019 reissue features six previously unreleased tracks.
The X-Pensive Winos
Additional musicians
| Production
|
Year | Chart | Position |
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1988 | UK Top 100 Albums [11] | 37 |
1988 | Australian (ARIA Charts) [14] | 15 |
1988 | The Billboard 200 [12] | 24 |
1989 | The Billboard 200 [12] | 54 |
2019 | Polish Albums (ZPAV) [15] | 44 |
UK Top 100 Albums [11] | 43 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [16] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [17] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Sir Michael Philip Jagger is an English singer, songwriter, actor, filmmaker, and dancer. He is the front man and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. Jagger has written most of the band's songs alongside lead guitarist Keith Richards; their songwriting partnership is one of the most successful in history, and they continue to collaborate musically. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has been widely described as one of the most popular and influential front men in the history of rock music. His distinctive voice and energetic live performances, along with Richards' guitar style, have been the Rolling Stones' trademark throughout the band's career. Jagger gained notoriety for his romantic involvements and illicit drug use, and has often been portrayed as a countercultural figure.
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, singer and recording producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership with the band's lead vocalist Mick Jagger is one of the most successful in history. His career spans over six decades, and his guitar playing style has been a trademark of the Rolling Stones throughout the band's career. Richards gained press notoriety for his romantic involvements and illicit drug use, and he was often portrayed as a countercultural figure. First professionally known as Keith Richard, by the early 1970s he had fully asserted his family name.
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Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988 is a live album by Keith Richards and was released on 10 December 1991, in the United States and 24 February 1992, in the United Kingdom. Recorded during a brief American tour, the only leg of shows, in support of Talk Is Cheap in late 1988, Richards is supported by a set of musicians and friends dubbed "The X-Pensive Winos". The Winos included Waddy Wachtel, Steve Jordan, Charley Drayton, Ivan Neville, and Sarah Dash. Longtime Rolling Stones contributor Bobby Keys also plays saxophone.
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"Almost Hear You Sigh" is a Grammy-nominated song by The Rolling Stones from their 1989 album Steel Wheels, written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Steve Jordan. The song was originally a contender for inclusion on Richards' first solo album, Talk Is Cheap, but he decided to play it for Jagger and Chris Kimsey the next year during recording sessions in Montserrat for the Steel Wheels album. With the exception of some lyrical alteration by Jagger, the composition was left in its original form. The single, which was released in January 1990 and was the third single released from Steel Wheels, reached No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 (US), reaching the slightly higher position of 31 in the UK, and placed No. 1 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for one week.
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